


Believe Me

by eugyne (AreteNike)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Rose Gold: The Heith Zine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-02 01:48:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16295963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AreteNike/pseuds/eugyne
Summary: Hunk, chatting with Lance, declares he's undateable. Keith overhears and challenges him to prove it.





	Believe Me

**Author's Note:**

> written 4 heith zine hell yeah

Hunk can tell it's Lance coming through their apartment door partly by the sound of him kicking the door shut but mostly by the loud groan that follows. Considering he's coming back from a date—and early, too—Hunk can guess how it went.

"No luck?" he calls from the kitchen.

"No," Lance groans again, slumping around the corner and onto the couch. " _I_ thought it was going okay, but when I asked if she wanted to go out again she said she'd _think_ about it. That's a no, Hunk. She's definitely not gonna think about it."

"Tough luck, man," Hunk says, straightening from where he's been loading the dishwasher. "Is this the girl who gave you her number at that bar, or the cafe girl?"

"Cafe girl," Lance says glumly.

"Have you called bar girl yet?"

"I texted. She hasn't responded yet." Lance slides further down in his seat. "Maybe I'm just cursed? Even when I can get a first date, they never want a second."

Hunk hums sympathetically. "Hey, at least you can get dates at all. I can't."

"You don't try."

"I try. I just don't use your pickup lines." Hunk starts the dishwasher and heads for the freezer, and the ice cream within. It's gonna be that kind of night. "If you're cursed, I'm just undateable."

"I doubt that," says Keith, coming around the corner. Lance yelps, straightening.

"What's he doing here!?"

"Shiro kicked me out for the night." Keith also sits on the couch, causing Lance to scoot away to the other end. "He's got someone over."

"Oh my god, don't tell me that," Lance moans, pulling his knees up to his chin. "That _dick_." Hunk wordlessly hands him a bowl of ice cream.

"I take it you struck out," Keith says.

"Fuck you."

"Okay, back up a second," Hunk says, settling between them with his own ice cream. "What do you mean, you doubt that?"

Keith blinks at him. "Oh. I meant, I doubt you're undateable."

"I have evidence to the contrary." Hunk gestures with his spoon before digging in.

"Then prove it," Keith says, and Lance snorts.

"Oh, I know where this is going," he mutters, looking suddenly in a much better mood. Keith shoots him a glare. Hunk looks between them, mouth full of ice cream, and swallows.

"Uh, how do you expect me to do that?" he says. "Other than that, you know, I haven't been on a date since like, high school."

"Take me on a date," says Keith, and Hunk drops his spoon. Lance chokes on a laugh.

"I'm—what?"

"Take me on a date to prove you're undateable," Keith repeats, face totally neutral. Oh god, Hunk heard him right.

"But. I. That's kind of." He stops and takes a deep breath. "Won't that not prove anything if we're only, y'know... going on a date for... that purpose...?"

"Then you'd better take it seriously," Keith says, and gets up to go to the freezer himself. "You guys still have any of that lactose-free stuff?"

"No, I finished it," says Lance.

"But you don't even like it?"

"I was desperate?"

"You just didn't want me to have any—"

Hunk tunes them out. A date with Keith? It's not like he hasn't thought about, honestly—really, he gave up on it because they're friends. It'd be weird, right? At least, it'd be weird for _their_ friends. And he doesn't want to ruin anything between them... But then, it's not like it's a _real_ date. But then, Keith told him to take it seriously—or else he won't be proving anything. Which also means he can't be a purposefully terrible date, and then, it's not like he _wants_ to be undateable.

So... he'll just have to give it his all, then.

"Okay," he says loudly, interrupting their bickering.

"Okay?" says Lance.

"Okay, I'll take Keith on a date," Hunk clarifies, and miraculously manages to not trip over his words. Keith grins.

"Great," he says. "What do you have in mind?"

Shit.

* * *

Given that it's been nearly a decade since Hunk went on a date, and that barely qualified anyway—and that Lance's advice, while born from experience, should definitely always be taken with _several_ grains of salt—and that this is _Keith_ and not some stranger he'll never have to see again if it goes bad—Hunk is nervous as hell. He'd picked a movie for the date, since that was the least nerve-wracking thing he could think of, but he's not sure that's really helping right now. They'd even agreed to just meet there instead of traveling together, which means Hunk is panicking alone in his car outside the theater instead of outside Keith's apartment building.

A knock on his window startles him nearly out of his skin—it's Keith, because of course it's Keith, giving him a grin and a wave. Hunk sheepishly climbs out of his car.

"Ready?" Keith asks, and damn, he always looks good (in Hunk's opinion), but either he's put in a little effort today or Hunk is just hyper-aware of him right now. Maybe both.

"Y-yeah," Hunk manages, locking his car. And then Keith offers his hand.

Hunk stares at it a little too long.

"Don't leave me hanging, buddy," Keith says and Hunk lets out the breath he'd been holding.

"Oookay, we're really doing this," he mutters, taking his hand.

Keith snorts. "Yeah, that's kind of the point. Let's go, we're missing all the trailers."

"Oh, that's tragic," Hunk replies almost automatically. Alright, banter! He can do this. Just, y'know. While holding Keith's hand. No biggie.

It does get easier, though, as the date goes on. So does the whole hand-holding thing; Keith doesn't let go all through the movie, so Hunk doesn't either, and y'know? He could get used to this.

By the time they head across the street for coffee before they part, well, Hunk is pretty much just enjoying himself. And Keith is, like, actually smiling? So maybe he is too.

And then Keith says, apropos of nothing, "So, do you believe me yet?"

"What?"

"That you aren't undateable," he says, and, oh yeah. They were doing this to prove a point and none of it was real.

"Oh," says Hunk. "Well... no."

Keith lifts an eyebrow.

"Not that it hasn't been fun!" Hunk adds quickly. "It's just that, like, we're already friends? So of course hanging out with you was gonna be fun. But that doesn't prove anything."

Keith actually rolls his eyes. "I think you're missing the point. But, fine. We'll just have to try again."

Hey, this is officially the first time Hunk's gotten a second date. Sort of.

"And anyway, dating isn't all there is to dating," Keith adds, which makes no sense whatsoever. "I guess we can talk about this later, it's getting kinda late."

"Oh," Hunk says vaguely. "Yeah."

Keith slips his hand back into Hunk's as they leave the cafe, and walks him all the way back to his car.

* * *

Hunk is having a small crisis.

It turns out it's really hard to convince yourself you don't have a crush on someone when you've taken them on a date.

And, you know, it would've been fine. Like, he doesn't wanna make things weird in their friend group, but Lance flirting with Allura all the time hasn't, and their friends are chill, anyway. Lance would tease them but it wouldn't bother him, not really. Shiro and Allura would just be proud, or something. Pidge wouldn't even care.

But Keith's only doing this to make Hunk feel better about himself... right?

He looks back down at his phone, at the text Keith sent him fifteen minutes ago. _Mind if I come over?_

 _Sure, why?_ Hunk had texted back.

_No reason. See you soon._

He should be showing up any minute now, which means Hunk doesn't have time to be having a crisis. And oh shit, he forgot to warn Lance.

"Lance?" he calls, emerging from his room.

"Spider?" Lance calls back from around the corner, which is fair, because Hunk was definitely using his I'm-trying-not-to-panic voice.

"No, Keith's coming over."

"Oh." Lance meanders into view, rubbing a towel over his hair. "When?"

Of course that's when the door buzzes.

"Now," Hunk says faintly. Lance gives him a look that would be sympathetic if he weren't also clearly biting back a grin, and presses the answer button.

"Who is it?" he asks.

"Keith."

"Ew." Lance hangs up and unlocks the front door.

Keith gives him a look when he shows up at their apartment a minute later, but Lance still lets him in so evidently he doesn't find it worth fighting over. Instead he just comes over to where Hunk is sitting nervously on the couch and flops down next to him.

"Hi," Hunk says uncertainly.

"Hey," Keith says. He leans against Hunk's shoulder, unconcerned, and then just... takes out his phone. Hunk can see him scrolling through some social media feed. Lance rolls his eyes at them and goes back to his room.

"Did you... come here for something specific?" Hunk asks after a few minutes of this.

"Nope." Keith keeps scrolling.

Well, okay. Hunk isn't convinced this isn't some passive-aggressive attempt at proving a point, but it isn't a date either. Probably. So he settles a little further into the couch—Keith shifts a little to get comfortable in turn—and turns on the TV.

They pass most of the afternoon like this. Sometimes Keith will hold up his phone to show Hunk something funny; sometimes Hunk will comment on whatever show is on and Keith will snort his agreement. They melt further into the couch, and by the time Lance comes back out of his room and announces he's going out for the evening Hunk is pretty sure he'll need to be pried up with a crowbar.

"Good luck!" Keith shouts after Lance as he leaves, earning him a certain finger. He's ended up tucked under Hunk's arm, head resting less on his shoulder and more in the general vicinity of his collarbone, curled up and clearly not moving anytime soon. His knees lean against Hunk's thigh. They're basically cuddling.

Okay, Hunk has to admit, this almost definitely is part of the whole dateability thing. He's just... not totally sure how. Like, he and Lance do this platonically sometimes—but this isn't Lance, it's Keith, and Keith doesn't (usually) do this. Keith is like a cat who hisses if someone other than Shiro tries to touch him.

"Are you hungry?" he blurts before his brain can run with that metaphor for too long.

"I'm always hungry if you're the one cooking," Keith says, and _that_ isn't weird because people say things like that about Hunk's cooking all the time. Except Hunk is kind of reading into everything a little too much right now.

"Thanks?" he says. "You're gonna have to let me up, though."

Keith pouts, actually pouts, but he leans away so Hunk can get up. And for a while Hunk busies himself with dinner, but it's not long before Keith comes in and all but plasters himself to Hunk's side again.

"You're clingy today," Hunk says, because dammit he can't _not_ mention this.

"Yep," says Keith.

"...You're still trying to prove something, aren't you?"

"Yep."

"Does that mean this is also a date?"

"Nope."

Hunk looks down at Keith. Keith raises an eyebrow up at Hunk.

"D'you think couples only see each other on dates?" he adds pointedly.

"Oh." That's a fair point, actually. And, belatedly, "That's what you meant the other day. That dating isn't all there is to dating."

"Mhm." Keith rests one arm around Hunk's waist. "What're you making? Smells good."

So Hunk starts talking about what he's doing, and Keith eventually detaches himself to help, and when they finally sit down to eat Keith tangles their ankles together beneath the table.

And, y'know? If this is what dating is really like, Hunk is starting to think maybe he wouldn't be so terrible at it. Maybe he just needed to give it a try.

But, on the other hand? Keith still doesn't mean any of this. He's still only doing this to prove a point—which means real dating would maybe not actually go so well. And even if Hunk is kind of really starting to want more of this, for this to be their new normal, well. It isn't. And it can't be.

So when Keith finally gets ready to leave, when he stands on tiptoe and tugs Hunk down a little and _kisses_ him on the cheek and whispers in his ear, "Believe me yet?" Hunk groans and covers his face with his hands and replies, "No."

Keith huffs. "Well, you still owe me another date. Thursday at the park?"

"...Okay," says Hunk, because he's setting himself up for pain later, but he really does want more of this, however fake it is.

When Lance comes back later, he finds Hunk spacing out on the sofa.

"Is Keith gone yet?" he asks.

"Oh, hey Lance," says Hunk, snapping back into reality. "How was your date?"

"How was _your_ date?" Lance counters (which means his probably didn't go that well). "Has Keith proven his point yet?"

Hunk groans and flops over, taking up the rest of the sofa. Lance comes and perches on his shins instead.

"It's never gonna be proven," Hunk says. "It's not real, therefore it doesn't mean anything, therefore anything that happens while we're together is _not_ valid proof."

There's a long pause.

"Hunk," Lance says with a genuine sigh. "What Keith is trying to prove isn't that you're dateable in general. He's trying to prove that you're dateable to _him_."

"That'll do me a lot of good once this over," Hunk says sarcastically. Because sooner or later, Keith is gonna give up on this argument, and then Hunk will be right back where he started: alone.

Lance stares at him. And then he says, slowly, "Oh my god. You're in denial."

"Nooo?" Yes, but Lance doesn't need to know Hunk is totally falling for his "rival."

"Hunk. Keith wants to date you. He just, straight up—you gave him an excuse to ask you out, stupid as it was, and he _took_ it."

That is... not what Hunk was in denial about.

"Nooooooo?" he says again, higher pitched than before, and Lance smacks himself in the face.

"God, you're not usually this dense," he says. "Look, just ask him about it. Keith is a blunt kind of guy. He'll probably just tell you."

"I'll do that," Hunk says, knowing he absolutely won't.

"Good," Lance says, but suspiciously, like he knows Hunk absolutely won't do it. "Hand me the remote."

"You are _not_ turning on your soap operas or whatever while you've got me trapped on the couch."

"Maybe you shouldn't take up the whole couch, then."

Hunk sighs and sits up, dislodging Lance in the process. "I'm going to bed," he says tiredly, and he does, but he doesn't sleep for a long time.

* * *

The sky is worryingly overcast when Hunk gets to the park, but when he finally tracks down Keith and points it out, Keith just shrugs.

"I checked the forecast. It's not supposed to rain today," he says, adjusting the cooler slung over his shoulder.

"That doesn't mean it won't..." If they're having a picnic, that could be a problem.

"It'll be fine." Keith holds out a hand, and Hunk only feels a _little_ bit less weird about taking it.

They walk around for a while, chatting about this and that. It's not sunny enough for the park to be crowded, but it's a warm summer day and there are still plenty of people milling about, playing frisbee and walking their dogs.

"Over there," Keith says finally, pointing to a bench tucked among a cluster of flowering bushes. They brush away a few stray petals and sit, and Keith sets down the cooler between them.

"I'm not as good a cook as you," he says, unzipping the top, "but I'm pretty sure it's edible."

"Ringing endorsement, there, Keith," says Hunk, moments before a big, fat raindrop lands square on his nose.

"...Oh no," says Keith.

There's a very pregnant pause—and then the skies open up, and they're running for the dubious cover of a nearby large tree, cooler bouncing against Keith's hip.

The space beneath the tree isn't dry by a long shot, but they're thoroughly soaked anyway by the time they get there. They huddle against the trunk where the dripping is least and settle in to wait it out. Hunk glances over at Keith—his bangs are plastered to his face, and the cooler hangs forlornly in front of him, dripping slowly.

It's because of Hunk's stubborness that they're here, Hunk decides. Because he was too selfish to lie and say he believed Keith, to cut this off at the start before something like this happened.

"...Do you believe me yet?" he asks.

"What, that it could rain even though the forecast said it wouldn't?" Keith gives him a look. Dammit, he's cute even when he's doing his best impression of a wet cat. Hunk looks away.

"No, that I'm undateable." He gestures out at the park, now all but empty.

"You don't control the weather."

"But still. You didn't have to do this for me, and look where it got us."

Out of the corner of his eye, Hunk sees Keith kick at the dirt. "I wanted to. Even if it goes wrong."

"And that's nice of you. Really. But like... even if I try to take it seriously, you're still just doing it to prove a point, so—"

"No, I..." Keith mutters. "I just wanted to date you."

"Oh." And then it hits him. "Wait, for real?"

"Yeah." Keith keeps kicking the dirt. "For real."

Dammit, Lance was _right._

Also, holy shit. _Yes._ Hunk turns to face Keith.

"And I haven't scared you off?"

"No." Keith meets his eyes, just for a moment.

"...Really?"

Keith throws his head back. "Yes, really! I like you! For real!"

"Okay! Okay." Okay. "...Okay."

Keith gives him a sidelong look.

"I mean, I wanna date you too," Hunk adds quickly. "I just, like, I didn't think... um, yeah." And somehow this is still less awkward than he imagined it would be, if he ever admitted his feelings. "You... you are serious, right? Like, you're not just saying it—"

" _Hunk_." Keith laughs disbelievingly.

"Okay, okay, got it. You mean it. I got it. Cool." Hunk rocks back on his heels. "We aren't counting this as our official first date, right?"

"I dunno," Keith says, and now he smiles at the rain instead of frowning. It shows no sign of easing up, but whatever—they're soaked anyway. "This seems pretty good to me."

“...All right.” If nothing else, it’ll make a good story. And, Hunk had to admit—he’s pretty happy with how it’s turned out, rain and all.

But next time, he's double-checking the forecast, just in case.

**Author's Note:**

> find me @[maternalcube](http://maternalcube.tumblr.com/)


End file.
